Pieces that Fall into place
by Maho Kiwi
Summary: When Sora's parents leave him in Riku's care for a week, how will Riku cope with wanting to tell Sora that he likes him? And how will Sora cope with already knowing?
1. Sunday

Title: Pieces that Fall into Place  
  
Author: Maho Kiwi  
  
Rating: R. Language and implied themes.  
  
Pairing: Sora x Riku  
  
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is a valuable facet of Disney and Square and I thank them very much for (unknowingly) letting me borrow them for a bit.  
  
A/N: I must have too much time on my hands. I've written something. I've been kicking this around for a day or two and it wont let me be. Hopefully this will appease it. Odd little snippet of time... takes place somewhere past the ending of KH, I'd say about a year, so they're still young. I don't know how Riku got back, nor do I feel like trying to figure it out. This is what my muse gave me. I know they live on a tropical island, but let's just assume, for my sake, that it gets chilly there. I've seen it be 40 degrees in Florida, which is pretty damn chilly. Just play along, okay? It's "winter" on Destiny Islands, which I set up as blustery, gray and wet.  
  
***  
  
From my perch on the staircase I watched my mother bustle back and forth from room to room in a frenzy of bushy hair and waving hands, my father trailing behind her, both talking a mile a minute. "Now, don't forget to turn off the lights when you go out, and turn the heat down-I know it's getting late in the season, but we can't afford to heat this place if no one is in it-"  
  
"Honey, if we don't get going-"  
  
"And please try and keep the house looking somewhat habitable-where are my gloves?- I know it's a horrible pain for you to actually pick things up off the floor but if you could-I /just/ had them-"  
  
"Sweetheart, he's a big boy now and I really think that if we don't leave-"  
  
My parents were going away on vacation. It was their wedding anniversary, and they had decided to go somewhere warm for the season. I had thought that they'd want to go somewhere with weather that was completely unlike home. True, the weather was crap now, but 9 months out of the year it was tropical paradise. Then again, that's probably why my parents chose to live here. They liked warm weather.  
  
"There's leftovers in the fridge and I left you some spending money, frozen pizza in the freezer-don't forget to turn the oven off if you use it-try and eat something healthy every now and again-"  
  
I propped my head up in my hands and watched as my mother left and returned to the front room for the 57th time. Every time she left she returned with a new forgotten item, which she would then stuff into her already over- packed bag. My father was attempting to get her to abandon the never-ending process of remembering all her items and just leave.  
  
"Really, honey, the boat leaves in-"  
  
"That's it!" my mother declared with a sudden clap of her hands, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. "I've decided. We wont be going!"  
  
My father did a take. "Excuse me? But, really, Sweetheart, we've already bought the tickets, and the boat is leaving-"  
  
"No! No, I can't leave my baby boy here alone! How will he manage? No, it's completely unacceptable I just-"  
  
I rolled my eyes and watched my father do the same. I tuned my mother out. She did this every time they left to go somewhere; even if was only down to the store. You'd think that being the Keyblade Master and saving the known cosmos would earn me a little standing in her eyes, but to Mom, I would always be "her baby boy".  
  
My father began speaking, saying the lines that he said every time they left.  
  
"Why don't you call up one of those friends of yours, Sora? See if they'll put you up for a couple of days?" He turned to my mother. "How about that, Sweetheart? That'd be okay, wouldn't it?"  
  
"Sure, Dad. I'll call Riku .I'm sure his mother wouldn't mind if I stayed for a while." I sighed out my lines. I think Mom needed this pageantry to feel safe on her trips. Knowing that if every trip began the same way, then maybe they would all end the same way; them coming home to find me safe and sound and the three of us continuing on in the way we always had. I would never forget the sight of my mother crumpled on the floor, sobbing, as I stood there in the living room, Keyblade in hand, telling her I was home.  
  
"I thought you were gone for good."  
  
***  
  
I waved goodbye as their car /finally/ pulled out of the drive, on the way to the Marina. I shouldered my bag and started the walk to Riku's house. Halfway across the island I was accosted by Tidus, who wrapped an arm around my shoulders and grinned. "Hey, Sora."  
  
"Hey, Tidus. What's up?" I grinned back.  
  
"Oh, you know, the usual. The 'rents finally ship out?" He dropped his arm from my shoulders and fell into step next to me.  
  
"Yeah, finally. Mom had to go through the motions of telling me to not burn the house down in her absence before deciding that I'm not old enough to stay home alone."  
  
"Think you'll ever be?"  
  
I looked round at him. "Be what?"  
  
"Old enough. To stay home alone." I shrugged.  
  
"Prob'ly not. So, are you gonna tell me?" It was his turn to look at me.  
  
"Tell you?" a smile twitched awkwardly on his lips. "Tell you what?"  
  
"Ohhhhh c'mon Tidus. The others always say it: 'Sora and Tidus, you can read those two like they were an open book!' And you know what? They're right." I gave him a gentle poke in the ribs. "You know you wanna tell me something!"  
  
He sighed and placed his hands behind his head-sometimes I swear this boy was me-looking at the sky. "Fine, I guess I did want to tell you something." I smiled. I love being right. Such a warm fuzzy feeling.  
  
"Sooo. the other day, I was like. yanno. talking."  
  
"uh huuuuh." I volunteered. Good God, at this rate he'd never get to the point of this story. It seemed he really didn't want to tell me this thing that he wanted to tell me. Or he wanted to tell me but thought he shouldn't.  
  
"So, like, there I am. talking, and stuff. When Riku says-"  
  
"Ah, so you were talking to Riku, not just randomly talking" I cut in, amused.  
  
"Yeah, Riku. So he says, 'so. Sora.' And I'm like, 'Sora?' and he's like, 'yeah.'" Christ. I swung my hands back and forth and waited for him to get on with it.  
  
"And then he's like. um. well. we were talking and he just sort of mentioned it, you know how it is. When you're talking and you just say something, yanno? You didn't mean to, or maybe you do but then you, well, you just kinda say stuff? You know? Yeah?" I looked at him, raising my eyebrow.  
  
"Tidus, none of that made any sense. All I can tell is that you were talking to Riku and he said something about me. Will you, please, try and tell me what he said, and do it so I can understand?"  
  
He slowed his pace and looked at his feet. "Yeah. I guess." I waited.  
  
"He said he likes you." Mumbled.  
  
"I know he likes me. We talked about this, he's sorry, I'm sorry. We're all forgiven. The darkness is behind us, it's done and over. We're friends again." I rolled my eyes. Was that all?  
  
"No. Not like that. He /likes/ you. You know." My step faltered.  
  
"He. Likes me?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
I sat down where I was, completely caught off guard. Riku. Liked me? Tidus slowly lowered himself down next to me. "I. Didn't know if I should tell you. "  
  
"Why did you?" I stared at the hard gray dirt "I'm on the way to his house, be there for a week. did you really need to tell me now?" I looked at him.  
  
"Well. Maybe not. But I knew that you'd be staying there-you always do-and I thought I'd. You know. Give you the heads up. Just in case."  
  
"Just in case?" I scoffed and made a feeble attempt to touch the ground-too far away. "Just in case what? He tries to make a move on me? Now I'll just be. Jumpy and paranoid. Wonderful. Thanks a bunch." He looked hurt.  
  
"Hey now. I just-" I cut him off.  
  
"I know. Sorry. Not your fault." I sighed again and stood. "Well. they're expecting me. Better be on my way."  
  
"You could always stay with me yanno." Tidus offered. I shook my head.  
  
"No. I always stay with him. Always."  
  
And with that I was off to face my fate. No problem. It'd be just the same as always. Just the same. Yup. So Riku liked me. No big deal, right? I mean, we both used to have huge crushes on Kairi and we all still hung out together-hey now, if he liked me, what was all the jazz about sharing a Paopu with Kairi? Not that I remembered that. 'Cause he was just joking. I wouldn't remember something silly like that. Never-This would be just like that. Just the two of us, hanging out together. Alone. Fine. Great. Good. No problems what-so-ever. Not a one.  
  
Oh God. 


	2. Sunday Night

Title: Pieces that Fall into Place, Chapter Two  
  
Author: Maho Kiwi  
  
Rating: R. Language and implied themes.  
  
Pairing: Sora x Riku  
  
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is a valuable facet of Disney and Square and I thank them very much for (unknowingly) letting me borrow the boys for a bit.  
  
A/N: I thank my five reviewers very much. Merry Christmas to them and I love them a lot. I fixed the thing about anonymous reviews. I'd /appreciate/ knowing who you are, but you can now tell me what you thought about my story without the fear of me most likely not knowing who you are anyway. ::wink:: My hands are very cold right now, so my typing is poor. Can't. make. fingers. move! Chapter two! Since Sora will be staying with Riku for a week, I plan on doing chapters by the weekdays. So. a seven chapter story I guess? And I know everybody else seems to think that because they live on an island it's pretty primitive, but for my story they have all the latest technology. Cars, TV ect. Kay?  
  
***  
  
Riku's house. Huge, impressive, intimidating. Doom.  
  
I shook my head. No reason to go thinking thoughts like that! Just because he liked me didn't mean that he would do anything about it, if he was too shy to tell me he most definitely wouldn't try to jump me in my sleep. Innocent, pure little me.  
  
Secretly I had always been rather jealous of Riku's house. I wouldn't say that we lived in the slums, but compared to Riku's neighborhood we did. Riku's dad had a very long and impressive job title, with about 18 extra letters following his name. (M.D, PH.D, SLC, YMCA ect.) I probably would have been even more jealous if not for the fact the Riku was on the verge of hating it. Especially when we were younger. He always wanted to come to my house, play on the floor, out back in the dirt. things I gathered he didn't get to do at home. Don't misunderstand; it wasn't a mansion with servants or anything, Riku's mom did all the cooking-and it wasn't always fancy stuff either-they cleaned the house themselves and the only had a two car garage, but it was still the biggest house in town, next to the mayor's of course.  
  
I walked up the familiar path and was (pleasantly? Unpleasantly?) surprised at the door by Riku himself. He checked his wrist, then raised an eyebrow at me.  
  
"Gee Sora, that took you about 10 minutes longer than /usual/ to get here, you get lost on the way or something?" he smiled and stepped aside to let me in.  
  
"Are you implying that this whole 'parents-go-out-of-town-I'll-just-drop-by- Riku's-place' thing has gotten routine?" I slung my bag down on the floor by the door and smiled back. "I ran into Tidus on the way here, wanted to tell me something. And you know how Tidus is when he starts in on a story." I watched Riku for any sort of sign.  
  
"Oh geez, thank goodness you made it at all, then." Not one twitch. Maybe Tidus was lying. No, that was stupid. But then, so was the notion that Riku might like me. Hmmm.  
  
"Oh, Sora, you made it, welcome!" His mother breezed over, and managed to take my jacket, give me a light hug, pick up my bag, hang the jacket up, hand the bag to Riku and straighten my hair all in one fluid movement. Simply amazing. "Riku, show Sora up to your room, I'll put on some soup, it looks cold out there." His mother made a 'concerned face' as she looked out the window. Riku rolled his eyes dramatically.  
  
"Mom, Sora /knows/ where my room is. He's over here more than I am. Stop acting like we haven't seen him in years." His mother frowned disapprovingly at him.  
  
"Really, Riku. It never hurts to be mannerly, something you could learn from you friend." She put her hand on my shoulder, meaning me, I guessed. Was I more mannerly than Riku? I sincerely doubted that, and both mine and Riku's faces reflected that thought.  
  
"Sure, whatever mom" he said, bemused. "C'mon then, Sora, I'll 'show you to my room.'" He started up the stairway, me trailing after him. We reached the top of the stairs and I mentally paced out the way to my friend's room. He was right. I knew this house almost as well as my own. Let's see, up the stairs- third from the top squeaks if you step too hard on the left side- down the hallway, past the outlet, first door after the bookcase-the fifth book would be tilted on it's side-end of the hall. Riku's room, in order with the rest of the house, was impressive. First off, it was massive. One giant room, with a high ceiling and a big window along the side. There was a great view of the ocean from this window, and while I got all the pretty sunsets from mine, Riku got stunning sunrises. His bed was huge too, but before you start thinking 'grand four-poster with headboard, silk sheets and feather pillows' style thoughts, let me remind you that this was Riku. His bed was simply the mattress and it's box springs set on the floor, with some standard cotton sheets on it. I'm sure his mother hated it, but it suited him well, and I never fell far if I fell off the edge. I was a clumsy child. Random 'extreme sports' type posters were tacked up on the walls, and there was a (jealousy!) big screen TV with VCR and a Gamestation X in the corner (we'd spent many nights up until the sun rose playing our favorite games on that thing, like Virtual Monopoly. I'm kidding.)  
  
Riku tossed my bag on his bed and looked around. "So, how long are you here this time?" he smirked at me. Okay, so maybe I did stay at his house too often. "A week." He smiled.  
  
"Great."  
  
***  
  
"So, Sora." Riku's mom handed me some crackers to go with my soup "Shall I put an extra mattress down for you, or will you two be okay in the one bed?" My heart ground to a stop. Crap. I had forgotten that part. We had always just slept in the same bed! My head spun, how to play this out? True, now that we were older, it probably wouldn't be unreasonable to request the extra bed, but then, both Riku and I were as skinny as rails and could easily fit on his bed, plus, since we always had before, would they think I was suddenly uneasy sharing a bed with Riku? What would Riku think about that? And of course, it would be extra work for his mother to haul the extra mattress out and whichever option I picked, I had better hurry up and say something because they're sure to notice the lag in response time and-  
  
"The one bed is fine" I smiled at her, my heart sinking. She nodded and moved away to fetch some Kool-aid. Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I saw Riku grin. Crap. Crap. Crap.  
  
***  
  
"Crap!"  
  
I slammed the controller down on the ground as Riku grinned at me.  
  
"Best 24 of 47?" He asked, hitting the Restart button and wagging my controller in front of my face.  
  
"I hate you." I ground out between clenched teeth.  
  
"Naw, you don't. You hate that I beat you at /everything/, but you don't hate Me." He wasn't even looking at me, concentrating on starting up another round of virtual carnage for us to play.  
  
"I beat you once. Twice." I muttered through injured pride. He stopped what he was doing and stared at me, hurt splashed across his face. I winced guiltily. He wasn't supposed to hear that. He was sorry and I knew it.  
  
"Riku. " I started. I was cut off, though, as he abruptly leaned forward and switched the system off.  
  
"What say we just go to bed? I'm kinda-" he faked a yawn in the middle of his sentence "Kinda tired" he looked over at his clock, glowing on the wall: 3:47 a.m. He stood and made his way over to the bed.  
  
"Riiiku. " I half-pleaded. Now I felt bad. He waved and hand at me as he pulled up the covers.  
  
"Forget it. It's fine." He said with an air of casualness that, in my opinion, was way overdone. I stood and walked to the other side of the bed, plopping down on my knees and looking at him.  
  
"No, listen. " Again, he cut me off.  
  
"Really, it's okay, you're right, you have beaten me before. Goodnight." And with that, he turned his back on me and snuggled into his blankets. Slowly, and with no small amount of guilt, I eased under the covers, trying as hard as possible to have no noticeable effect on the condition of the bed. I gave up, with the sad realization that I did have body mass, and wrapped my half of the blankets around me. Back to back with Riku, with about 2 feet of air space between us I realized (happily?) that there was very little chance he would get any closer. He probably would pout/be angry with me for the rest of my visit. Great. Way to go, King Big Mouth. Let's just insult him and dredge up painful history while we stay at his house, shall we? I mentally slapped myself around, then-realizing that this was not punishment enough-I conjured up an image of Riku to mentally kick the crap out of me. Nothing is more humiliating that being beaten inside your own head, I decided.  
  
"Sora."  
  
I froze.  
  
"Yeah, Riku?" Would he be mad?  
  
"You're twitching."  
  
". oh. Sorry." I lay as still as I could and tried to concentrate on sleeping, guilt eating away at me.  
  
***  
  
Quick, shallow breathing, like. hyperventilation? Warm though, comfortable. my eyes snapped open. Okay, I was in a bed, Riku's bed. That much I knew/remembered. I slid my eyes around.  
  
Crap.  
  
No, scratch that. Shit. Fuck. Fuck!  
  
I was laying across Riku's chest, right arm curled up around his shoulder, left hand tucked beneath my head. I took a moment to thank whatever Deity happened to be listening that it was winter and we were both wearing tee- shirts and fuzzy pants. Because I knew for a fact that in the summer both of our bedtime outfits consisted of nothing more than boxer shorts, and I was pretty damn sure that if I were to wake up in such a situation I would have to spontaneously combust on the spot, just out of decency. As it were, I then proceeded to curse that same Deity that I happened to be the kind of child that instinctively snuggled up to anything warm while I slept.  
  
I rolled my eyes up to look at Riku, I don't think he knew I was awake yet. He was staring at a fixed point on the wall, his cheeks tinged a slight pink (with embarrassment?), arms locked at his sides, and seemed to be the source of the hyperventilation. This confused me. If we were just friends, he'd either let me stay, or push me off. never making a big deal out of either. But if he liked me, then wouldn't he be pleased right now? Why was he acting like he was about to have a heart attack? Then it hit me. he /really/ didn't want me to know he liked me, or he was trying very hard not to. not to.  
  
I sat up abruptly, startling him. I grinned a little too widely at him.  
  
"Good morning Riku!" He stared at me for a moment, then cleared his throat and looked down.  
  
"Uh, good morning, but, well.not really." I checked the clock. It was only 5:15?! We'd only been asleep for an hour and a half? I frowned. That meant I couldn't get up yet. I had to stay in bed and play this off.  
  
"Oh.okay. Well, um, then 'Goodnight' again, I guess." I got as far away from him as possible on the mattress, turned my back and tried to look asleep.  
  
*silence*  
  
I grimaced. Okay, so I couldn't just act like I hadn't snuggled up to him.  
  
"Sorry. About the snuggling. I. uh, well. "  
  
"It's okay. You always used to do that. But it was when we were little and you were still afraid of the monsters under the bed." I heard him turn to face me. "Are you okay?"  
  
I couldn't think of a thing to say, really. Was I subconsciously cuddling in a moment of fear? It was sweet of him to remember, and to worry. Especially after how I had treated him last night-uh, earlier this morning.  
  
"I'm fine. Really."  
  
"'Cause, you know. there can't be any monsters under my bed now. With the mattress on the floor. Unless they're, I dunno, really skinny monsters." I heard the smile in his voice and couldn't help but giggle a bit. "You sure you're okay?"  
  
I half turned at looked at him over my shoulder. "I'm great. Thanks" I smiled at him then turned back around. Sleep. I would go back to sleep. And I would stay on my side of the bed this time. I shivered.  
  
"Ah hah!" I was startled first by Riku's hushed exclamation, then startled a second time as his arms wrapped around my waist from behind. "You're cold! That's why you were snuggling! You're trying to leech heat off me!" he poked me playfully in the shoulder.  
  
"No! I mean, it was just chills, I'm really fine-" He snuggled into the back of my neck.  
  
"Sora?" a beat. Ba-dump, went my heart.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Shut up and go to sleep, you know you like it."  
  
Crappity crap crap crap. Apparently, with me 'making the first move' he felt more at ease to cuddle up to me. I had given him an excuse to do so. Wonderful. but. he /was/ warm. Oh, fine. It wasn't like I had agreed to marry him or anything, we were just sharing warmth on a cold night, like the good friends that. we. zzzzz  
  
***  
  
Well, chapter two up, what do you think? I did not get enough sleep last night, so that's where most of my attention went for this chapter. They're sooooo cute! And don't worry, they'll get more snuggly as the fic goes on. It just occurred to me that the plot is taking a slightly different turn then I had originally planned. Maybe I can still steer it in the right direction. 


	3. Monday

Title: Pieces that Fall into Place, Chapter Three  
  
Author: Maho Kiwi  
  
Rating: R. Language and implied themes.  
  
Pairing: Sora x Riku  
  
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is a valuable facet of Disney and Square and I thank them very much for (unknowingly) letting me borrow the boys for a bit.  
  
A/N: I'm going to attempt to steer this story back in the way I had it normally mapped out. Again, I thank my reviewers. Luv ya all to death.  
  
***  
  
Steps. Three sharp raps on the door.  
  
"Boys! It's time you got up! Burning daylight!"  
  
I cracked my eyes open. Ugh. I had forgotten what an early riser Riku's dad was. I shifted my body in an attempt to find the clock. 8:30. Wow, he let us sleep in. I laid back, and tried to think calm rational thoughts about my position. During our short sleep we had rolled over a bit, so that Riku was on his back, one arm still loose around my waist, and I was cradled against his side. Or had been. But since I had moved to see the clock, now I was sprawled quite ungracefully across Riku's body, in a position that was not comfortable at all, but that was the point. I concentrated on increasing my body's gravity.  
  
"Un. Sora. heavy." I smiled, turning my head to the side in an attempt to look at him. He still had his eyes squeezed closed. "Gerroff me." he mumbled.  
  
I summoned up my deepest voice. "Never! Now, you are mine! Mwa ha hah ahah!" I chortled. He cracked one eye open lazily and regarded me with a mixture of confusion and amusement.  
  
"Oh? You think so?" Oh dear. Even though I was expecting something, I was still caught off guard as he flipped us over in a flurry of sheets and limbs.  
  
"Who-ahhh! Wufff!" was my all intelligent thought as I was pinned into the soft mattress below me. He grinned at me from about two inches beyond my nose. I swallowed hard.  
  
"Am I still yours?" I screwed my face up into a pout. I had to admit, he had me pretty good. He held both my arms above my head with his left hand, he was leaning on his right arm, which was right next to my head. He had my legs pinned with his, knees outside my hips with his ankles crossed back over my calves, and his feet were hooked around my ankles. Yup. I was pinned. But just because I had to admit it to myself, that didn't mean I had to admit it to him. The fingers of his right hand brushed through my hair and I suppressed a small shiver.  
  
"Yes. As soon as I. I. ugh." I thrashed, trying to free myself. "As soon as I get. free. graaah! You're cheating!" I attempted to kick my legs in protest. He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Cheating? Oh no. This is not cheating. /This/ is cheating!"  
  
"Huh? What-ahhhhhhhh!" suddenly his hands were everywhere!  
  
"Noooooo! Noooooah! Ah wah ahaha! No! Ack! Aaaa.Rikuuuu! Nooo!" He was laughing hard, trying to hold my squiring body and tickle me at the same time.  
  
My one weakness: I was horribly ticklish. Especially on my sides. Fortunately (or unfortunately at the present moment), Riku was one of the very very few people who knew this.  
  
"Boys! Up!" With a sigh, Riku gracefully rolled off of me and sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Okay, okay! We're up!" he turned and looked at the clock. "8:40? Wow. We've 'slept half the day away'" he said, in a pretty good impersonation of his father's voice.  
  
He stretched, then pulled his shirt over his head and moved towards the closet to get a new one. I rolled onto my side and reached for my bag, other hand clutching my waist. I love laughing hard, but it makes my stomach hurt.  
  
As I pulled my own shirt over my head I silently thanked the fates that Riku had not thought to mention my weakness to Ansem. I would have lost pretty fast. Or maybe he did tell him, and Ansem just chose not to exploit that. He didn't seem like a tickling kinda guy. I rolled my eyes at my stupidity. Yes, I could see it now. Ansem, tickling me. That would make an epic tale. Such the hero.  
  
As I absently buckled my belt about my waist I felt my mood darkening and I scowled. I had a crippling weakness. but Riku. He didn't have one. At least not such a stupid one. I looked at my bare feet (why are my feet so big?). I had been told that Riku had been meant as the True Keyblade Master, a fact that still stung. Him. Not me. But I suppose it made sense. He was stronger, faster. better. Resentment boiled up in me, it wasn't fair, why was he better at everything? I could do stuff too! I-  
  
"Sora?" I looked at him, forgetting to wipe the glare off my face. He took half a step back. "Hey, you okay?"  
  
I shook my head to clear my facial expression, and replaced it with a more pleasant one.  
  
"Yeah, sorry. still a little tired." I guessed Riku wasn't the only one who got upset at the mention of the darkness. I didn't know I could be so petty. "What?"  
  
He hesitated, then smiled again, holding something out to me. "Here." I took the proffered item and looked at it. It was a shirt, kinda brozish in color, with a stenciled font proclaiming "Filler Bunny" with a pathetic looking bunny doing a sad, sad dance on the front.  
  
"Oh, wow! I love this shirt!" he smiled.  
  
"I know. I've been meaning to give it to you. I kinda outgrew it." I held it up.  
  
"So what makes you think it'll fit me?" It did look a /little/ small. He shrugged  
  
"Well, on you, small tight shirts look good. On me, well. it looks like I'm wearing a shirt that I've outgrown. Plus my mom says it makes me look 'unacceptable' and wont get off my back." Laughing, I pulled the shirt I had just put on back over my head and replaced it with my 'new' shirt. It clung to me quite nicely. Riku was right, I /did/ look good. Suddenly, I had an inspiration. Riku /did/ have a weakness!  
  
"Whaddaya think?" I hooked my thumbs into the top of my pants and leaned back a bit, giving Riku my best 'model look'. His eyes strayed down my body, then slowly came back up, grazing over my stomach, chest and arms where the shirt's tight fabric was stretched across my muscles. I felt my face getting warm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Suddenly his eyes snapped back into focus and he grinned, giving me a thumbs up.  
  
"Looks great. C'mon, let's go see if they left us some breakfast."  
  
***  
  
I watched Riku as he shoveled pancakes into his mouth, eyes focused on the cereal box, reading the Daily Nutritional Values.  
  
I had the perfect plan for revenge. 'Revenge?' you ask. 'Revenge for what?' I'm sorry. I tried to be big about it. I've always, /always/, laughed off the fact that he could beat me, but when he betrays me, then gets his ass whupped by yours truly and still has the nerve to say that he's still better, well.  
  
Somewhere in the back of my head a voice protested that Riku was just trying to return things to normal, he wasn't really bragging about being better, just good natured teasing. This voice also told me that it wasn't fair to seek revenge on my friend after he had been through so much pain and torment, due to his betrayal, already. I shoved this voice even further back. Okay, I /know/ that on many levels it isn't fair, it isn't right, especially exploiting something so natural and pure as attraction, but damn it, I'm sick of always being the good guy. The sweet one. The Great Kid. Sora, he's a Great Kid. I'm just sick of it, you know? Why do I always have to be the one who understands? Just this once, I'm going to be the one who goes astray.  
  
And my play was perfect. if he'd only look up.  
  
"Hey, Sora-" he started, finally looking up at me. He didn't seem able to get past that, however, as his gaze was now fixed on my lips.  
  
I had been sitting there, with maple syrup on my face for the last five minutes. As I watched his head come up I stuck out my tongue and slowly, slowly dragged it across my lips, licking them clean.  
  
"um. uh.a." He started. I shook my head.  
  
"Mmm. Sorry. Syrup." He blinked a few times.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Syrup, on my lips." He looked like he was trying like Hell to gather his thoughts into some sort of coherent state.  
  
"Oh, uh. right. Anyway, um." He looked around the table, looking lost. Oh, this was going to be /fun/.  
  
***  
  
After clearing away the breakfast dishes, we wandered back up to his room. The weather was still lousy, so we didn't really feel inclined to out. That's why we spend almost every possible hour outside in the summertime, we know this weather's coming.  
  
He gestured at the Television. "Want another go? I'll try and go easy on you." I smirked. "What?" he tilted his head and looked at me.  
  
"That. sounded /really/ dirty." I said, flopping onto my back on the mattress, splaying my limbs. I giggled quietly at his confused look. Hmmm. I could be quite catty when in the right frame of mind.  
  
"You know," I started, turning on my side to look at him, letting my arm drape over my waist, fingers playing with the edge of my shirt, " 'Want another go? I'll go easy on you.'" I purred, fixing him with the slinkiest look I could. "Like that." He worked his mouth a couple of times, and I decided to knock it off for the moment. I was being too obvious. The idea was to slowly torture Riku all week- but without giving him the impression that I was a) interested or b) aware of his feelings-not outright seduce him.  
  
I sighed and sat up. "Sure. Let's have another go. Your luck can't hold forever."  
  
"Uh. ahm, right. Yeah." He plunked down in front of the TV, looking more dazed than he had at the table. I reached for the switch at the same moment he did, and let my fingers graze over the back of his hand. He froze, and I let my hand linger for a moment before bringing it back.  
  
"Sorry." He closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head.  
  
"No problem." He flipped the switch.  
  
***  
  
Hmm, yes. This chapter was rather short, as my chapters go. And rather bad too. I seem to have lost my writing skills. Perhaps I need sleep. Yes. I will do that. Please review, it fills my life with warmth, light and joy. 


	4. Monday, Late Morning

Pieces that Fall into Place: Chapter Four  
  
Author: Maho Kiwi  
  
Rating: R  
  
Pairing: Sora x Riku  
  
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts. Belong to Disney. Good. Me borrow.  
  
A/N: Typing on a laptop in my grandmother's house ... the shame. I thought I could stand a two day break away from my friends/computer/story. But no. On top the this whole laptop thing, I have to deal with the younger brother/aunt/grandma reading over my shoulder factor. Yes, the going is slow today. I'm being reaaaaally unsuspicious, screaming "Go away!" at my younger brother every time he gets within eight feet. Mmmmyep. Once again, I thank all the lovely people who have reviewed, they say such nice things to me. As I'm sure you've noticed, my stories take a coupla chapters to swing into their ratings, expect the R rating to start to come into play a little more. In fact, I almost jump right into it. I was feeling dirty today. It's restlessness. There is nothing to do in this town!!!  
  
***  
  
I bit my lip, you could practically taste the tension in the air. I shifted my body around, grunting a bit, trying to gain the upper hand. Unfortunately, even after all my careful planning, Riku was still dominating the situation.  
  
"How?!" I exclaimed as the 'Loser' screen flashed at me. "How do you /always/ beat me?" I was annoyed. Even in a state of Lust Induced Distraction, Riku could /still/ beat me at video games How, how, how?!  
  
He shrugged distractedly "Call it a gift" I smirked.  
  
"Gift this!" Yes. I actually said that. Not the first, or last, thing I regretted doing during my stay. Anyway, with my brilliant proclamation I pounced him, and we proceeded to wrestle around a bit. Through what I like to believe was Divine Intervention I came out in my intended position: On Top.  
  
"Yes!" I proclaimed. Leaning forward I hit the restart switch and moved his controller closer to him.  
  
"Sora! What are you-?" I grinned down at him from my position atop his lap. "Are you seriously going to make me play like this?" Okay, so it wasn't really fair. I was sitting facing the television, cheating out slightly to the right, straddling his hips. He was, obviously, on his back. In order to see the television at all, he'd have to tilt his head all the way back and a bit to the right ... neither comfortable nor practical.  
  
"Whassamatter Riku?" I sneered. "Don't think you can do it?" He sneered back.  
  
"Is the only way you can beat me by cheating?" Oh, you just wait, mister, you just wait.  
  
Our game started and we both put our full effort into it. Okay, Riku put his full effort into it. I was busy doing other things. I twisted my hips to the left as I swung my shoulders to the right-if you've ever watched boys play video games, you know this was a natural action. I fully believe that by repositioning my physical body I can effect my character's performance on screen. I heard Riku gasp below me and I scored a good hit on his character. And that, my friends, was the aim of me sitting on his lap. I twisted my hips around again, quite aware of how I was rubbing against my rival. His eyes were half-shut and he seemed to be making a very focused effort to pay attention to the video game. As I watched him, I ground my hips a bit and he whimpered slightly, biting his lip.  
  
Some small part of me recoiled at this-what was I doing?! But a larger, scarier part of my mind was really enjoying having the upper hand for once, and I leaned forward slightly before sliding my hips back to the left, making small noises of ... concentration.  
  
Riku made a small squeaking noise, and I scored more valuable points against him-he seemed to be having a very difficult time focusing on the game. With a final-rather violent-dip and twist back again to the right Riku dropped his controller and victory was mine.  
  
"Yessssss!!" I cried, leaning back and pumping my fist in the air. "I won!" I leaned forward again and poked him in the chest in time to my words. "I won, I won, I wuh-un!" I was practically singing. My friend did not seem to share my happiness, he had his head tilted back, making small gasping noises and staring at the wall by his face. It reminded me of this morning, when I had woken up on top of him. Only more /so/.  
  
"G-good job" he panted at me, "Now, how about you ... you, get off?" I frowned a bit.  
  
"I dunno ..." I rocked back and forth slightly as I talked "I was kinda hoping you'd take the loss a little less graciously" I ran my finger tips distractedly across his stomach.  
  
"um, yeah!" he quite abruptly grabbed my hips and practically tossed me off him, rolling to his knees and then standing. "Listen, um, Sora. I uh ... I'm gonna go ... take a shower, since I didn't get to, this uh, this morning. Okay?" he didn't wait for my response, practically sprinting into the bathroom that was on the right side of the room.  
  
I waited until I heard the water come on to start giggling. I was /so/ evil. Destruction of known worlds aside, I think I had Riku beat in the 'evil' category. Victory was very arousing. Victory and grinding yourself into someone's lap. I groaned a bit, slightly disgusted with myself. The idea was to get Riku aroused, not work myself up. I leaned back on his bed and ran my hand down my body. With a final glance at the bathroom door I tilted my head back and unzipped my pants.  
  
***  
  
The water had stopped about ten minutes ago, and I stared at the door, having a silent argument with myself. How far did I want to take my game? I was still slightly upset at my apparent lack of self control, but it seemed odd to abandon it at this point, when things were going so well ... I summoned up my courage and walked over to the bathroom door.  
  
I slowly peeked my head around the door, eyes sweeping across the bathroom. I was also very jealous of this bathroom. It was rather large, with cream colored carpet covering two-thirds of the floor, the uncarpeted portions were tiled in deep black stone. On the left there was a very large bathtub, the kind that almost qualifies as a swimming pool, the carpet came about a foot and a half from the edge of tub, before meeting tile in a dramatic Light verses Dark battle between floor coverings. Across the floor from the tub there was a large mirror. Further along the left there was a separating half-wall, on the other side of it, I knew from previous visits, was the shower, also large and tiled. Truthfully, the Shower could have qualified as another room altogether, and I wondered at it's purpose. Was it meant for group showers or something? It's not like Riku had any siblings ... hmmm, possibilities ... I shook my head. Ab-so-lutely /not/. I would not, could not, take my game /that/ far. Never.  
  
Riku stood at the mirror, leaning on the ledge, staring into the sink. He was wearing his pajama pants loosely around his hips (like you could wear pajama pants any other way) and no shirt. His long silver hair clung wetly to his shoulders. All in all, I had to admit, he made a very pretty picture.  
  
I silently made my way across the floor to him, careful to keep myself out of his line of vision. He wasn't looking up anyway, but it never hurt to be careful. I stopped just behind him and took a breath to steady myself, trying to slide into the appropriate character for this game: Perky, upbeat, sensual and most important, oblivious.  
  
Riku jumped about three miles into the air as I placed my hands on his shoulders and inhaled deeply.  
  
"What are you /doing/?!" he practically shrieked at me. I kept my eyes closed happily and hummed a bit.  
  
"You smell all clean ... " I murmured into his shoulder.  
  
"I'll say it again: What are you doing?" his voice was strained. I opened my eyes and released him, stepping back.  
  
"I heard the water shut off and came to see if you were done with shower yet. I feel a bit grimy myself." For the longest time he just stared at me, expression odd and unreadable. Finally, he made a half step out and motioned towards the shower.  
  
"All yours." the words were friendly, but quiet and guarded. He watched me with the same quiet guarded look and I realized what he was waiting for, and my mistake. He had me caught, and was now testing me. I couldn't, reasonably, ask him to leave the room for me-not after my recent actions. If I were willing to risk walking in on him, fresh out of the shower and half naked, to smell him, then I should be able to handle him being in the room as I took my shower. Could I stay faithful to my game and not give myself away? Crap. I am /such/ a chowder head. With as much poise I could muster I smiled back at him.  
  
"Great. Thanks" I pulled my shirt up and off, shaking my hair out as it came over my head. I tossed it idly into the corner as I turned, moving towards the shower. Running my hands down to unzip my pants again, I felt my face go red as I slid them off my hips. I was /very/ glad my back was to him, so he couldn't see. Stepping out of my pants I kicked them into the corner to join my shirt, and reached over to turn the water on.  
  
"You going to take a shower in your underwear?" Riku asked from around the partition. I poked my head around it and scowled at him. He had his back turned, but his reflection smirked at me from the mirror.  
  
"No. I was just checking the water, thank you very much." I ducked back behind the wall and sighed, burying my fingers into my hair then running my hands down the sides of my face. Why do I never know when to quit? Why, why, why? I had unwittingly given him the upper hand again. Resigned, I slid my boxers off and tossed them out onto my pile of clothes. I was just about to step into the spray when I had another horrible thought: My clothes, and other such covers, like towels, were all out there. Around the wall. Where Riku was. How was I going to get /out/ of the shower? I hoped Riku would get tired of the bathroom and leave before I finished getting washed up. I thumped my head lightly into the wall as the water ran through my hair. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This was a very bad idea. I kept up this self-humiliating train of thought for some time, distractedly doing things like putting shave gel in my hair and trying to wash my chest with conditioner.  
  
"Hey, Sora!" It was my turn to jump in surprise.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I left you some fresh towels. They're fluffy. Hurry up, okay?" my heart skipped a beat, he was leaving the room? Yes!  
  
"o-okay." I heard the door quietly shut behind him and I heaved a sigh. Okay, dignity would be saved. I could handle this again. After a few minutes I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. True to his word, Riku had left a stack of clean towels on the sink ledge. I walked over and picked one up, rubbing it through my hair and down my body. Oooo ... he wasn't lying. They /were/ fluffy. I finished drying myself off and went to retrieve my clothes.  
  
As I pulled them back on, I fell into serious thought. Now what? To continue my game or not? I could, realistically, go either way from here. I could walk out of this shower and have everything return to normal, or I could keep it up. After my near humiliation, the latter option was sounding pretty good. But then my pride swelled up again. No! This shower incident had left Riku on top, and there was no way in Hell I was gonna lose at my own game. I would have to continue on until I had Riku absolutely begging for mercy. Of course, I would be more careful, as to not let this sort of incident happen again. I nodded my head decisively and spun around-crashing directly into my silver haired friend.  
  
***  
  
I have now been working on this chapter for four consecutive hours with no break. Not that there's anything else to do in this Godforsaken little town. As I mentioned, I'm at my grandmas. I'm still writing, but I felt that this particular chapter was getting a bit long. So it looks like my story will be many chapters longer than I anticipated, what with Tuesday dragging on like this. Or is it still Monday? Crap ... it is still Monday, isn't it. *sigh* Only six and ½ more days 'til Sora's parents come home. I might skip Tuesday ... otherwise this story might get seriously long. Not that anybody would mind, judging by my kind kind reviewers that give my life meaning. Anywho, onto the next chapter! Tallyho! 


	5. Monday Afternoon

Title: Pieces that Fall into Place: Chapter Five  
  
Author: Maho Kiwi  
  
Rating: R  
  
Pairing: Riku x Sora (yes, it keeps toggling back and forth between Riku x Sora and Sora x Riku)  
  
Disclaimer: Disney and Square own all the Kingdom Hearts things. Except my personal copy of the game, my cheat book, and the two-disc soundtrack. However, as these companies always make very clear, that does not entitle me to anything.  
  
A/N: New chapter! Hmm ... the plot has taken another odd turn, how? Why? I'm not telling it to do that. And I'm sure that everyone noticed that, in the last chapter, Sora spoke in thirds a lot. ("How, how, how?" "Why, why, why?" "Stupid, stupid, stupid") I'll try and keep a tighter lid on that this time. The last chapter also tended to ramble. My thoughts were scattered. Must think coherent thoughts. Warning: Last chapter, smut, this chapter; angst. Just a bit, though. I'll get back to the smut in a minute.  
  
***  
  
"Enjoy your shower?"  
  
" ... yes. Very much."  
  
"..."  
  
"Um, can I ask why you came back in?"  
  
another beat of silence.  
  
"I heard the water shut off and I came to hurry you up. It's very boring out there."  
  
"mmm." I shifted a bit in his arms. It seems I had whirled with more energy than I had thought, and Riku, being in mid-step, was ill-prepared to receive me, the result being that we both crashed to the floor, tangled up in each other.  
  
We had been laying on the floor now for some time, for some unexplained reason neither of us felt compelled to move. I suppose after the first minute of the embrace, moving would mean we would have to acknowledge it, and neither of us felt equipped to do so. Now, ten minutes later, this freak accident had really become something of a problem, we couldn't pretend that a loss of balance had caused us to snuggle together for such a long time, but what could we possibly say? He was afraid to tell me and I didn't return the feeling, right? So what was there to say to each other?  
  
His question had broken a rather long silence, which had since returned. I sighed softly, resting my head on his shoulder. For a while I had tried to keep my head up, so I wouldn't look like I was snuggling, but that was before my neck got really stiff and started to ache. This was humiliating, but in a way, comforting as well. The tension that had been building since breakfast was gone now, and I was glad. My antics did happen to make the air around this place rather hostile, and it was nice to sit in comfortable silence for a while. Of course, it would feel more friendly and less like a relationship if he hadn't wrapped his arms around my waist.  
  
As I lay there I thought back on the last two days. This morning had dragged on, and it was because of my game. I was causing the hostility, the uncomfortable presence, the tension. Me, me, me. And just two days ago I had been majorly freaked out by the prospect that my childhood friend might consider me anything more.  
  
"Riku?" Oh well, this had to end eventually.  
  
"Mmm..?"  
  
"Can we get up?" Why did I sound so sad? Was I enjoying this? Maybe just a little. I hadn't gotten much sleep, remember, and he was warm and comfy. There was a beat of silence as he considered my proposal.  
  
"Gee, I don't care, Sora. You /are/ the one on top, after all." he mocked. I felt my face flush. Oh /God/. Had he been waiting for me to get up off him? Was this whole snuggling thing my fault? I sat up.  
  
"You could have asked me to get up." My voice sounded a little colder than I had intended, but my pride had, once again, been hurt. And my pride bites when injured. He smiled in a very self-indulgent way and I mentally slapped myself. He /knew/! He had to! He knew I was playing him and he had started to play back. And I had played directly into it! He was winning my game! Damn him! He ran his hands up and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear.  
  
"I didn't mind" I jerked back, still angry, and got off him. I heard him sigh.  
  
"Listen, Sora ..." No! I was not going to let this end this way! I was /not/ going to lose.  
  
"Well, sorry, anyway. I was afraid of the monsters hiding under the shower mat." I grinned at him and pulled him to his feet. I was rewarded with a light chuckle. I turned and started towards the bathroom door. Okay, good, still a manageable situation, I could still-what the Hell was he doing?!  
  
He had come up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist again. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe ... " he breathed into my ear, gently nipping at the lobe. I shuddered, that felt really ... I pulled away very abruptly, turning to face him, looking (I'm sure) very alarmed.  
  
"Riku ..." he was staring at me with an expression of complete shock written on his face, his arms still out in front of him. I blinked. He ... didn't. He didn't know. About the game, that was. He thought I was ... that I had been ... and now. Oh craptacular.  
  
"Ri-Riku, um ... I-"  
  
"Forget it." He stormed past me, and I moaned, tilting my head back. How was I going to deal with this? Riku had (correctly) thought I was flirting with him, and had assumed (incorrectly) that I was interested. If the situation had been tense this morning, I was sure that it would be increased tenfold now. I trudged out of the bathroom just in time to see Riku return from downstairs, holding my jacket out to me.  
  
"C'mon" he pulled his own jacket on and started down the hall towards the stairs.  
  
"Where are we going?" I hurried to catch up to him, jacket hanging loosely off my arms.  
  
"Kairi's"  
  
***  
  
The next half hour stands out in my mind as one of the most awkward I have ever lived through. We spent the entire time sitting in Kairi's living room, drinking hot cocoa (which she had thoughtfully made us) talking about nothing at all, much to Kairi's confusion, ("hi guys, what's up?" "Nothing. Can we come in?" "Uh, sure, Riku. Sooo..."). What made this half an hour so humiliating though, was that Riku was flirting madly, every ten seconds he'd reach out and touch her arm, stroke her hair, smile this odd, flirtatious smile. I was embarrassed, not for myself, but for him; he was making a fool of himself, and for her; she had no idea what had brought on this sudden storm of Riku-attention. Soon, though, it became obvious that none of us had anything left to say (not that we had really had anything to say in the first place) and that Kairi was silently willing us to leave. I think she felt as awkward as I did. So we bid her goodbye, Riku giving her a rather long and affectionate hug, which prompted a brief and humiliating hug from me, then we were off, back to Riku's house, or wherever.  
  
"Sooo ... " I started, intending to quiz him about this sudden attraction to Kairi  
  
"Yes?" His answer was quick, challenging.  
  
" ... Where are we going?" I changed my mind. I would just leave it alone. If he wanted to overcompensate and confuse the Hell out of Kairi, well, that was fine with me. Stupid-head.  
  
He slowed a bit.  
  
"Uh ... " he scowled.  
  
Oh, good. Something had to change here. I had a possible six days of the business end of a hissy fit facing me, which did not sound appealing at all. Some sort of apology, or otherwise conciliatory action was in order. I looked around, we had wandered into the shopping district of town. I had an idea.  
  
"Okay then, come with me" I grabbed his hand and tugged him along behind me. I could feel him resisting, and I couldn't blame him for being mad at me. I had been a total tease this morning, and had completely humiliated him in the bathroom. But my plan had changed. The same thing that probably made my flirting annoying could be my saving grace here. I would use my obliviousness, my power to be a complete ditz, to my advantage. I would ignore our bathroom incident and treat it like it never happened, saving both Riku and myself.  
  
About five minutes later we had reached my favorite place in town: the ice cream store. Okay, so it wasn't really my favorite place anymore, but had been when I was small, so I could still call it that. I dragged the still- unwilling Riku in after me.  
  
"Sora, it's freezing out, why would you want ice cream?" I cursed myself. Oh, right. Be cool, be cool ...  
  
"Riku, have you even known me to not want ice cream?" Ooo ... good recovery. I gave myself a mental high-five. There was a deep silence from his half of our little parade. Then:  
  
"Sora?" Yes, my moody little buttercup?  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You're a complete dork. You know that, right?" Yes, but that's why you love me, right?  
  
"Yes, but that's why you love me, right?" he regarded me with a very cold look. Oh, right. I shouldn't have said that last part. We were all pretending that Riku loved Kairi. Right. My mistake.  
  
"Oh, sorry. I forgot, you love Kairi now." What the Hell was /I/ doing?! Trying to piss him off? Why couldn't I keep my mouth from saying these things?  
  
He blinked at me, then pulled me forward by our still-joined hands to the counter.  
  
"Were you going to order something, or not?" I blinked, a little dazed, and placed my order.  
  
"Did ... you want something?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You sure?" he looked at me.  
  
"What is with you? Fine." he turned to the lady at the counter "Chocolate." back to look at me "Are we happy now?" Ohhh he was angry alright, and starting to annoy me. He was definitely Raining on Our Parade.  
  
Our ice cream came and he dug his wallet out of his pocket. Hoping that I wouldn't lose my arm in the gesture, I put my hand on his and handed the counter lady the appropriate amount. He regarded me with another one of those angry/confused looks I had been getting about every three minutes for the last hour.  
  
"You're paying for mine? What, are we on a date or something?" he sneered in my general direction.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
I could see him reeling. Mentally I was doing the same. What was this? Was I really that cruel? Couldn't I just be happy with how much I had humiliated him already? Did I have to keep building him up to tear him down?  
  
'Oh, but look how sweet your victory is going to be' my Shoulder Devil hissed into my ear. I seriously doubted that at this point anything about this situation could be sweet. Except my ice cream. I licked at it distractedly, watching my poor tormented friend. He glanced over at me, and got a very pained look in his eyes. What? What now? I took a moment to survey myself. Oh. Oh ... /oh/. The Damn Ice Cream. I had been licking it. But, I supposed, not in the innocent way one normally licks ice cream. I would have glared at my Shoulder Devil if I could. How did he control me without my knowledge?  
  
"Can we go home now?" Riku pleaded quietly, he sounded completely defeated, broken, and I was sad.  
  
Riku ... I never meant ...  
  
Oh /Hell/. Yes, I had.  
  
Well ... no point in stopping now ... this was what I wanted, wasn't it? I knew it would hurt him. That was the point. It was all in fun. That's right, just a bit of competitive fun.  
  
I grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door.  
  
"Sure. Let's go home." For once, I would be the winner.  
  
Then why did I feel like such a loser?  
  
***  
  
Do you know that, in total, my story is about 30 pages now? That's crazy. I've never written that much in my life. I have now been doing this writing thing for approximately six hours, and I think the family is about to watch Fellowship of the Rings, so maybe I'll join them. Perhaps I will get another chapter banged out tonight and make you all very happy. What do you think? The story has veered completely out of my control, so I deny responsibility for odd/crappy chapters. 


	6. Hump Day

Pieces that Fall into Place: Chapter Six  
  
Author: Maho Kiwi  
  
Rating: R  
  
Pairing: Sora x Riku  
  
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts. Belong to Disney and Square. Good. Me borrow.  
  
A/N: Ohhhh ... I've seen Fellowship about 30 times, and I can hear it from here. I don't really need to watch it. This is more fun, playing with the boys. My story truly earns it's R rating this chapter. "Meridoc Branybuck, and Perrigan Took. I might have known"  
  
***  
  
It was Wednesday that I realized what a right bastard I was being.  
  
Wednesday started just as Monday and Tuesday had, with me waking up cuddled up to Riku's chest. It had become an unspoken understanding that this would be how I slept. He was less crabby with me now. I had let him beat me at our video games a couple of times (aren't I gracious?) and had toned down my flirting a bit, so his attitude had improved greatly.  
  
"Wednesday! Hump day!" I crowed from my position next to Riku.  
  
"So it is." he murmured, wrapping his arm tighter around my waist and turning on his side to burry his face into my shoulder. I frowned a bit. Oh dear, we weren't getting back into that frame of mind where I seemed interested, were we? I jumped up and out of his embrace. He tried to conceal his disappointment, but didn't have time to dwell on that, because it was then that I chose to begin my 'Hump Day Dance' in which I-  
  
Well, what do you think that looks like?  
  
When I had finished I looked back at Riku. I smirked in amusement. He was starting very intently at the wall, his cheeks a very flattering color of pink.  
  
"Don't I just dance divinely?" I asked him smoothly.  
  
"Uh ... erm ... shower." he stammered out, before rushing into the smaller room.  
  
This time I waited patiently for him to come out before going in to take my own. I had learned my lesson with that one, yes sir. How would I torture my beautiful friend today? I thought on this idly as I toweled my hair dry, then reached for my clothes.  
  
Oh, good show, Sora.  
  
I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I had trod and dripped all over my clothes as I thought them. And there was no way I was wearing wet underwear. No big thing, though. I would just ... go out and get more from my bag. I wrapped a towel securely about my waist and, taking a steadying breath, stepped out into Riku's room.  
  
"Sora!" I looked at Riku. His face very clearly said 'What in the name of all that is decent do you think you're doing?!'  
  
"I, very cleverly, got water all over my clothes." I explained, walking to my bag and bending over to retrieve some new items. I had just found my favorite pair of boxers (the white ones with the little red hearts on them) when the worst possible thing happened.  
  
The towel slipped off my waist.  
  
I froze in horror, then looked desperately over my shoulder at Riku. His eyes held a wild panicked look, like some sort of small cornered animal ... oh, and he was staring directly at my ass.  
  
"Riku ... I - I /swear/, this is a, a complete accident!" I stammered, grabbing frantically at my towel. I don't know why I felt compelled to explain myself. I should have been the only one who had any idea that it could have been anything but.  
  
Without a word, he brushed past me into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. This caused me to feel quite pleased with myself and my mistake (I was still on my crusade of innocent Riku-arousal, remember) until I heard the muffled sob from behind the door.  
  
Yup. I was a right Bastard. A complete and total Bastard.  
  
***  
  
I was sitting in my underwear on Riku's bed feeling quite down when he emerged ten minutes later, looking like death warmed over.  
  
He looked at me sullenly and moved towards his closet.  
  
"Can't you put on some clothes?"  
  
I swallowed. I /had/ to make this up to him. I /had/ to.  
  
"Riku ... "  
  
"Do you /need/ some?!" he half shouted at me, his voice cracking a bit. God, I had really upset him this time ... Completely unintentional too, that was the kicker.  
  
"Here!" he tossed a shirt at me, then slammed over to his dresser, pulling out some pants and throwing them at my head as well.  
  
"Why?! Why are you-rrrrrrrah!" he wrapped his arms around his head and made another sobbing noise. "What did I-? Why are you-?" he collapsed onto his knees at the foot of the bed.  
  
The both of us sat in silence for what seemed like a lifetime.  
  
"Riku."  
  
No movement.  
  
"Riku"  
  
"What?" I could hear the venom dripping off the word.  
  
"C'mere."  
  
He looked up at me slowly, warily, then obliged. He crawled cautiously up onto the mattress towards me. My heart beat a thousand miles a minute, but both my face and his remained completely neutral. He held my gaze as he neared, not stopping as he finally reached me. Leaning over me he moved his face very close to mine, watching my eyes intently. I leaned back slightly, finally letting his lips find mine in a searing, desperate kiss. Half of me wanted to throw him off me and run, the other half angrily asked why I hadn't done this sooner. (Truthfully, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off my shoulders, that damn tension had returned and I hadn't even noticed. Well, maybe I noticed, but I chose not to acknowledge it.)  
  
His arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders and he lowered me down onto the bed, still kissing me madly. He kissed my lips, my cheeks, my chin, then returned to my lips all the while holding me to him like I was about to disappear. I slid my arms around his shoulders and tried to kiss him back. Sadly, I found that his kissing was too intense for me to keep up with, so I just relaxed and let him have his way with me. His tongue ran across my lips and I opened my mouth to him. I owed him this.  
  
After an eternity of frantic kissing, nipping, sucking, licking and a whole myriad of wonderful actions he pulled back, panting, and rested his forehead on mine, staring dazedly into my eyes.  
  
"Damn, Sora" he panted "You play hard to get."  
  
I chose not to respond to this. Not verbally, at least. Instead I moved my head up a bit and softly brushed my lips against his.  
  
"Again."  
  
He happily complied, softly massaging my lips with his, occasionally lapping at them with his tongue. This time, his kisses were slow enough for me to respond, which I did rather hesitantly, but willingly. I felt him smile against me, and he ran his fingers across my cheek and up into my hair. He broke our contact and I heard myself whimper.  
  
"I lost" I muttered to myself. He raised himself up on his elbow and regarded me quizzically.  
  
"Lost? Lost what?" he asked. I shook my head.  
  
"Nothing, nevermind." I pulled him back down to me, but he resisted.  
  
"No, really. Lost what?" he half-chuckled, and I felt very guilty indeed.  
  
"You, you really like me, don't you?" I asked. He laughed openly this time.  
  
"What do you think, you dork?" he kissed be briefly.  
  
"But I never thought" he kissed me again  
  
"that I'd ever"  
  
kiss  
  
"get to"  
  
kiss  
  
"have you"  
  
the final kiss lasted much longer than the previous four, his tongue slipping past my lips to dance with mine. I groaned happily and held him closer. The treacherous part of my brain had been silenced. I was certain: this was absolutely wonderful. If I hadn't been such a stubborn ass I might have had this sooner. I had wasted three days of possible Riku-lovin'.  
  
"I, " he whispered quietly to my lips, "am completely mad about you."  
  
"I know" I whispered back. I swallowed nervously. I didn't have the courage to voice it, and my lips barely moved against his, but it was enough. "I knew"  
  
He drew back and furrowed his brow slightly.  
  
"You ... but, how, erm, you-"  
  
"Tidus, told me." I slowly, softly explained. This was about to be painful.  
  
"You ...knew?" he asked again, understanding creeping into his eyes. I felt my own eyes start to water.  
  
"Riku ... I'm ... /so/ sorry. I, I was playing with you, I knew you liked me ... so I used that to get back at you ..."  
  
"Get back at me?" his voice was getting higher, confused, upset "For what?"  
  
"Ansem." I looked shamefully down.  
  
His mouth worked for a few seconds-in a lighter moment, I might have compared him to a fish, but now was not the time for humorous thoughts-then he dropped me abruptly.  
  
"Riku!" I pleaded.  
  
He was pacing back and forth next to the bed, running his hands through his hair, starting sentences, then stopping, only to begin pacing again, to attempt another sentence, stopping, and starting the whole process again.  
  
"Riku-" my eyes were stinging  
  
"Ansem?!" his voice was cracking again, they way it did when he was very upset, " I-I apologized! You said-you said you forgave me!" he looked at me, pain and despair on his face. "I was /sorry/! I /am/ sorry! Why would you ... why would you need to get back at me?"  
  
I have never felt as bad as I did at that moment. He turned from me and leaned his head down on the top of his dresser. I guiltily watched him tremble violently, silently sobbing. I /really/ hated myself. I had such a way of ruining a perfectly good moment.  
  
Slowly I moved off the bed and wrapped my arms around him. He stifled a sob and tried to push me away, but it was a feeble attempt and I didn't want to release him.  
  
"Riku, please. I'm ... sorry. I'm really sorry. I-I didn't know, that, that I liked you too" he looked up at me through his silvery bangs "But I do." I hugged him closer. "I /do/. I do, I do, I do." He slowly turned and returned my embrace, putting his head into the crook of my shoulder.  
  
Slowly I moved us back towards his bed. I pulled him down so that he was slightly on top of me, and he looked up at me, sniffling.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"You still want me?" I hoped against hope that the answer was yes. "Or ... should I put my clothes back on?" I smiled a bit, trying to lighten the mood. He only started at me, eyes red rimmed. I gulped. I couldn't loose him, not this soon after discovering how wonderful he was.  
  
I was pleasantly surprised as he raised up and pressed his lips into mine. I was just getting into it when he bit down on my lower lip a little rougher than I liked, I struggled against him, making noises of discontent. He released my lips, then gripped my face with his hand.  
  
"Don't do it again." he said harshly. I nodded fervently. His face melted into a very soft smile and he nuzzled my neck.  
  
"By the way, I think you should stay just how you are." he trailed his fingertips down my chest teasingly.  
  
"Mmmmmokay" I looked down to watch his hand. He smiled.  
  
"You like to watch?"  
  
"I like watching you ..."  
  
He hummed pleasantly and lowered his head to nip at my collarbone. I tipped my head back, silently pleading with him to continue. His right hand slipped around my back, holding me softly, while his left continued to draw patterns on my chest, stopping now and then to pinch and tease my nipples. I squirmed. This was completely unlike anything I had ever known. I didn't know having somebody else touch you could feel /this/ good.  
  
"Rikuuu" I pleaded. He slid up my body and sucked at my ear.  
  
"What do you want?" he breathed into it. I bit my lip and whimpered again.  
  
He chuckled softly and let his hand trail all the way back down, stopping to play about my waist.  
  
"You want more?" he purred into my ear. I turned my head and licked at his neck in response.  
  
"Mmmmm. That's nice ... but you didn't answer" he reprimanded me.  
  
"Please" I gasped against his neck, thrusting my hips up.  
  
"Please, what?" he teased. Oh, God, I would kill him. I loved him, I'd kill him.  
  
"Touch-" I whimpered again, trying to move my hips up to his hand, which now hovered inches over my groin. He laughed.  
  
"Oh, alright, I'll settle for that ..." he put his hand over my navel, then slowly, agonizingly slowly, slipped his hand under the waistband of my boxers.  
  
"Ah-ah!" I gasped and jerked my hips up again. Wonderful, brilliant ecstasy.  
  
He leaned down and kissed my neck as he softly stroked up and down, my hips bucking in time with his motions. All the things I had imagined, any fantasy I could come up with, every time I had ever touched myself, I was sure, could never compare to this.  
  
Riku trailed his tongue teasingly up my neck and into my mouth, which I accepted quite graciously. I tried to move my hands down to remove his shirt, but I found it took more attention than I could spare at the moment. Then, to my great distress, he stopped what he was doing and moved slightly off of me. I whimpered desperately and he laughed.  
  
"Hold your horses. You had the right idea there." it took my cloudy brain a moment to figure out what he was talking about, before it clicked in; he wanted me to take his shirt off. I leaned in to kiss him, sliding my hands down his chest to the edge of the shirt, pushing it slowly up, breaking our contact for as brief of a moment as possible as it cleared his head. I moved my hands about his chest, thinking of what made me feel good, trying to find that spots that would produce the same effect for him.  
  
I released his lips to flick his nipple with my tongue, and was rewarded with a very soft moan. Encouraged, I took it in my mouth, sucking and nipping at it gently. He rolled his body over mine again, so that he was suspended over me as I worked him. Satisfied, for the moment, with that area of his body, I dragged my tongue down his abdomen, feeling the muscles ripple and quiver under my touch. Turning him on was almost as wonderful as whatever he did to me. Almost. My body still ached for his touch though. I reached his navel and tested it, thrusting my tongue into it. He gasped and thrust his hips down. With no small amount of nervousness I brought my hands up and began to undo his belt buckle. I was having a dreadful time of it, however, my hands were shaking so bad I could hardly get the belt to respond. He reached down and stopped my hands, bringing one up to his lips and kissing the back.  
  
"Don't worry about it." he leaned in and kissed me softly before moving his lips back down my body. I felt a little guilty that I hadn't been able to do it, but then again, this was what I really wanted anyway. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, savoring every single motion of his lips and tongue. How could he be so good at this?  
  
"Mmmmah! Ah!" My eyes snapped open suddenly. In one fluid movement he had removed my boxers and claimed me with his mouth. I arched up into him, my hands tangling desperately into his sheets. He hummed softly, which had an even more amazing effect on me. My head was spinning and all I could think was 'Riku. Riku. Riku."  
  
"Riku!" I voiced my thoughts, why not? Anything concerning him was sounding pretty damn good right now.  
  
"Mmm, Rikurikuriku" I continued, just to clarify my feelings. His left hand stroked distractedly down my thigh, moving around to my ass and I gasped.  
  
"Riii-heee-kuuu ..." There it was again. The eloquent explanation of what I thought and felt about him.  
  
He released me slowly and I looked down at him, begging with my eyes. I needed, /needed/ more from him. He locked eyes with me and smiled, lowering his head and licking slowly at my entrance.  
  
"Oh!" my hips bucked again, and I wondered faintly how he knew how to get my body to do things without my consent. He was much like my Shoulder Devil, this silver angel I had found ...  
  
I writhed in near agony as he stuck his tongue into me, testing, teasing.  
  
"Oh, God, Riku ... Please!" I wasn't even sure what it was that I was asking for, but I was desperate for it. He moved back up my body to kiss my lips again, I moved my hands behind his head and pressed my tongue into his mouth, somehow trying to convey my want, my need, of him. He broke away from me, panting, and reached down to undo his belt. I panted heavily, arms wrapped loosely around his neck, waiting. Every single reservation I had was gone, and I needed him. I only wished he'd hurry it up.  
  
I arched my back and moaned loudly as I felt him press into me. I had been wrong before: /This/ was the most wonderful thing I had ever felt. My hands ran over his chest, his back, his thighs-desperately, frantically touching him as he moved in and out of me. I wanted to be closer to him, even though we were about as close as we could get already.  
  
"Ohhhhhh ... Riku. Yes!" I gasped, thrashing my head from side to side. His motions intensified, and my world narrowed to a tiny band of sheer pleasure. Nothing else. I needed nothing else, only him.  
  
I dug my fingertips roughly into his hips at my release, feeling him collapse on top of me a few moments later. My body heaved with the effort of breathing, and I clung to him, both our bodies hot and slick with sweat.  
  
He rolled onto my side and wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing my neck gently. I turned my head and pressed our lips together. We held the kiss for a moment before breaking away. Riku pulled at the edge of his blankets, tugging them up and over us, as I snuggled into his chest. He settled back down and murmured softly into my ear.  
  
"Good?"  
  
I nodded sleepily. I could stay here forever. The treacherous part of my brain resurfaced, but this time, it was wishing for things like the horrible death of my parents, just so I'd have to live at Riku's house. I mentally chided myself. What a horrible thing to wish. I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes, surrendering to the exhaustion that held me.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
Are we pleased? It is now 11 p.m. I begged this computer off my step dad at 1 p.m. I am going to have bruises on my wrists from the corners of this damn laptop. I told you it'd be an R story. This is the longer chapter so far, and that's because three and a half pages of it is taken up by pure smut. Smut, smut smut. We discussed this in my philosophy class. When women write it, it's Smut. When men write it, it's porn. We couldn't figure out why either. I wrote most of this with my aunt and/or grandmother a minimum of three feet away at all times. Am I going to Hell? *grin* 


	7. The Rest of Wednesday

Pieces that Fall into Place: Chapter Six  
  
Author: Maho Kiwi  
  
Rating: R  
  
Pairing: Sora x Riku  
  
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts. Belong to Disney and Square. Good. Me borrow.  
  
A/N: First off: People should not write Rape Fics. They make me draw pictures like this (http://www.spicedpeaches.com/mypics/kingdom/forkairicol.jpg) that completely ruin the mood I'm trying to set here. Pff.  
  
Secondly: Why does everyone think I'm done? *checks internal PtFiP clock* Dude . it's only Wednesday . Sora's parents aren't due back until Sunday. You think I'd end this and make you all imagine four days of stuff? What kind of author do you think I am? And I wonder why everybody is having problems with chapter four . I uploaded them at the same time as the others, hmmm  
  
As for the future of this fic:  
  
Okay, So I know it got a little whiny cry . damn . cry-y last chapter, which was cool when I wrote it, but as I sat and thought about it on my grandmother's couch at four a.m trying to ignore my little brother talking in his sleep, it occurred to me that I listed this fic as Romance/Humor, which is part of the reason why Kairi was not trying to break them up like she does in almost every other fic. I /like/ Kairi. She's sweet. She's like . female Sora. She really doesn't have anything to do with my story, tho', so we probably wont see her again. The anti-angst thread is also what makes Riku's parents what they are in this fic. If Riku's 'rents totally turn you off, then I apologize and invite you to remember that I want my fic to be lighthearted. With that, I apologize for the fact that this fic starts out serious and sappy.  
  
Sora. King of Mood Swings.  
  
Kawaii Karen: While writing the fic over from Riku's POV would be interesting, I'm not sure I could do it. Half of the fun of this was trying to imagine what Sora was imagining Riku was thinking. Does that make sense? Anyway, if I wrote it in Riku, I'd already know what Sora was thinking, because I wrote it from his POV first, and I'd have to pretend I didn't know what Sora was thinking . when you write in first person it's really hard not to get invested in the character. And everybody who's anybody knows that Knuckles is /way/ faster than Sonic. So sadly, yes, Sonic the Hedgehog can run faster than I update, but not by much. ^.^  
  
Many thanks to Uzumaki, who write reviews that make me feel warm and fuzzy because they lay out what I'm doing right. I will attempt to continue to do these things. And your story is very cool. Go Mulan!  
  
To the other many people who wrote to tell me that they like my fic: I love you. You are all generous and loving and I wish you love, life and happiness and I would list all of your names but that would take up a lot of space and seeing as my a/n is half a page already-*breathes*  
  
Finally, To Joanna D. I just thought I'd mention your name, and the fact that everybody should go read all your stories because they are better than mine, and there are more of them. Especially the one about the paisley horses.  
  
  
  
***  
  
We were unpleasantly awoken at 5:30 when the slamming of the downstairs door heralded the return of Riku's parents from work.  
  
Okay, the slamming of the door and the shouted:  
  
"Riku! Sora! We're home!"  
  
Riku groaned and rolled onto his back, yawning.  
  
"Welcome home! We'll be down in a bit!"  
  
"Okay sweetie! Hurry though, I need to talk to you!"  
  
"Okay mom!"  
  
I kept my eyes tightly closed. The shouting back and fourth, especially Riku's part, since he was shouting next to my ear, was starting to hurt my head. I whapped him with a pillow.  
  
"Shaddup"  
  
"Do /you/ want her coming up here to check on us?" he response was muffled beneath the pillow. I thought about this for a moment, before ducking my head under the pillow as well.  
  
"No. I want no one to enter or leave this room ever again." I gave him a quick kiss and grinned at him.  
  
He smiled and removed the pillow from our heads.  
  
"okay"  
  
"Mmmm" I snuggled into his chest, my arms wrapping around his waist, feeling the heat from his body. That was one of the things I was learning to appreciate about him, his incredible warmth.  
  
After a few minutes of heat leeching I looked up at my beautiful angel. He had his eyes closed, and looked very peaceful, and he was . crying? I crawled up so I was level with his face and kissed the tears off his cheeks. They were warm as well, and tasted of salt and him.  
  
"Hey . what's wrong?" I asked softly. He opened his eyes and smiled at me.  
  
"Nothing's wrong. Its just ." he sighed and looked at the ceiling "Do you have any idea how hard the last three days have been for me? I mean, to have the one person-" he turned and kissed my nose "that you are completely crazy about, in your house, sleeping in your bed-" his voice faltered a bit "sitting on your lap, prancing around without their underwear-"  
  
"It was an accident! And I was not prancing! /And/ I said I was sorry!" I cut in, but he shushed me with a wave of his hand.  
  
"And you can't do anything but . well, watch them? I was practically dying!" he turned and looked at me "which I suppose you knew"  
  
I looked down guiltily, then back up at him through my bangs, hoping I looked cute, innocent, and forgivable.  
  
"Sorry?"  
  
He laughed at my pitiful expression and titled my chin with his hand.  
  
"My point was, what we just did ." he leaned in and kissed me, "I /really/ needed." I smiled teasingly at him.  
  
"Ah yes, you caved to the sexual tension. I am Master!" I declared. He frowned disapprovingly  
  
"Your game, again?"  
  
"What can I say, competitive to the last."  
  
He stuck his tongue out at me. I raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Ooo . is that a promise?" he grinned back at me.  
  
"Later. Better go see what mom wants."  
  
"Awwww . " I pouted, as he tossed my underwear at my head.  
  
"You'll want those"  
  
  
  
***  
  
We took a moment to make sure we looked presentable, then walked down the stairs.  
  
Riku's father sat in an armchair, reading the paper, his mom was bustling about in the kitchen-I could hear pots clanking and such.  
  
Riku's parents. Maybe mid thirties. They were young, as parents go. But then, I guess, so were mine. And Tidus's. And Wakka's. I guess that's just how people did things on this island. Got married young. (Would Riku and I get married?)  
  
While not typical parents, they fit into the house very well, and they suited Riku. His father was one of those men who refused to believe they were getting older. During his spare time, which wasn't much, he went rock climbing, or diving off the east coast of the island. He often took Riku with him, which fueled my friend's desire for greatness, and physical prowess. Riku's mother was all about appearance, but light and happy, not overbearing and forceful like those horrible TV mothers. Her hair was a light honey color that offset brilliantly from her green eyes. She loved to pamper Riku, and had one near-heart attack after another as she listened to our stories of adventure, his father laughing and congratulating us in the background. One of my favorite dinner games, when I was younger, was trying to see what parts of Riku I could find in his parents. I wondered if he did the same at my house.  
  
"Oh, boys hello I need to . " his mother started, walking into the room. I was suddenly aware of a dreadful silence, as both Riku's parents stared up at us. Panicked, I looked at him, he seemed just as confused as I did.  
  
" . What?" Riku asked. There was another long silence during which I mentally wrote my last will and testament. There was something eerie and knowing about this silence. I nearly fell over as Riku's father laughed, and his mother squealed excitedly, putting her hands up to her mouth.  
  
"Oh, Riku honey! That's wonderful!" she was nearly bouncing with happiness. I looked up at Riku again, his face was twisted in an adorable, yet understandable, expression of complete confusion.  
  
"What's-"  
  
"Well, son, while I don't approve that sort of activity in our house," His father re opened his paper and stared at the words, pretending to read. "I suppose if you had to, this would be the place I'd want you to do it. I hope you had a good time."  
  
Riku scratched the back of his head nervously. "Um, what activity is that, Dad?" His father looked at us from the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Sex, of course"  
  
I really did fall over this time. Both Riku and I were completely dazed.  
  
"Gahhh.we didn't, we weren't, um, how . how did you, how . /how/?" Riku managed  
  
"Oh, sweetheart, the two of you are positively glowing!" he mother crooned, coming over and ruffling my hair affectionately and giving Riku's shoulders a light squeeze.  
  
"Besides that, you smell like it" his father quietly interjected from his chair.  
  
"And I'm just sooo happy for you. I know how much he means to you." His mother continued, shooting her husband a disapproving look. She turned and beamed at me. I flushed.  
  
"Um. So, so you don't mind, then. I mean, you knew? That Riku .uh . liked me? And that . that doesn't bother you?" I stammered. The three of them regarded me with raised eyebrows.  
  
"Well, no, Sora. Why would it?" His father asked, I got the feeling he was disappointed in me.  
  
"You know we like you, Sora. We've always tried to make you feel welcome." His mother tilted her head and looked at me with a slight crinkle in her eyebrows.  
  
"No, I mean, I do . feel welcome. It's just that . you know, we're both, well . we're both guys. That doesn't bother you? " I couldn't believe I had to explain that to them. Riku's parents exchanged the same raised eyebrow look.  
  
"Sora ." Riku was leaning on the railing of the staircase, "Both my parents and I have known I was gay since I was ten." He smiled at me. I went into rapid-blink mode. Whozamawhatazama? Excuse me?  
  
"We love our son for who he is, Sora. Can't you understand that?" His father asked me.  
  
"No, I mean, Yes. That's great! Just-well . " I paused.  
  
"Well, what, honey?" His mother leaned down a bit and smiled at me. Like she was talking to some shy four year old. I turned to Riku.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me? I-I thought I was your best friend . why ..?" he sighed and fidgeted a bit.  
  
"I . I didn't know what you'd think of me .."  
  
"I was your best friend!" I knew it was slightly irrational to get so upset over something he had neglected to tell me six years ago, but then again, it was a pretty big something.  
  
"You were nine, Sora."  
  
"I was still your best friend." I felt like I had been left out of some sort of joke, only to find myself at the butt of it. I knew they weren't laughing at me, but I still felt humiliated. I had just about made an ass out of myself just now.  
  
His parents looked back and fourth between the two of us.  
  
"Sora, would you have understood?" his father asked me. "Would you have gone on overnight camping trips, swimming, all those other activities you two did alone together if you knew?"  
  
I looked at the floor. "Well, we'll never know. Will we?" I asked rather quietly. And bitterly. I was still making an ass out of myself. His mother and father looked at each other again, then over to Riku. Their eyes both said the same thing: Why is Sora throwing a bloody temper tantrum?  
  
Or at least that's what I imagined they were thinking.  
  
Riku sighed again and walked over to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and laying his head under my chin.  
  
"Don't be mad, Sora. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want to lose you. You were my best friend."  
  
I smiled a little. "Yeah, I think we've established that. That I was your best friend." I wrapped my arm around his waist. "Sorry. For being mad. That wasn't fair."  
  
His parents smiled, his father returning to his paper and his mother returning to the kitchen.  
  
"Um, what was it that she needed to talk to us about?" Riku asked, nodding in the direction of the kitchen.  
  
"Mm? Oh, Your grandmother is having a diner party. She was more than excited that Sora would be coming as well." He father turned the page. Riku looked horrified. This disturbed me.  
  
"Would you like to guess what dinner will be?" Riku's father turned an amused eye on his son.  
  
"Nana's surprise meatloaf." Riku said in complete monotone, his face matching his voice.  
  
"Exactly. Now-Sora, Riku-I have something very important to tell you." He leaned over the arm of the chair and motioned us closer. "Do not, under any circumstances, /eat/ the meatloaf. Do you understand?" Riku's face brightened.  
  
"Really?"  
  
His father nodded solemnly. "Absolutely. I know what goes into that stuff."  
  
"Would you tell that to mom?" Riku asked. His father grinned and called over his shoulder.  
  
"Honey! Could you come here for a moment?" His mother bustled out, carrying a salad in a glass bowl, wrapped in three feet of saran wrap.  
  
"Yes, dear?"  
  
"I've told the boys that they don't have to eat the meatloaf. Just so you know." His mother laughed.  
  
"Don't worry. I plan on sitting next to them, and I am an /expert/ at slipping food under the table to the dog." Riku, his father and I all laughed at this.  
  
"So, what /does/ go into this 'surprise meatloaf'? " I asked.  
  
"Oh, you know," his father said. "Everything."  
  
"Well, yeah . but isn't that normally how you make meatloaf? With a whole buncha stuff?" I asked again.  
  
"No. I mean, /everything/" his father looked at me very seriously. "It's a very dangerous business, eating at your mother's" he told his wife.  
  
She was too busy with the saran wrap to respond.  
  
***  
  
I shifted in my chair . my butt was falling asleep. I had spent the last hour sitting in a hard wooden chair, nodding politely and saying things like 'yes Nana , no Nana, Of course, Nana'. She insisted everyone call her 'Nana'. I pushed the 'surprise meatloaf' around my plate with my fork, giving it the impression that there was less of it. Riku's father leaned over me, reaching for the beans.  
  
"'Scuse my reach, Sora."  
  
"That's okay." He pulled back, and magically, most of my meatloaf was gone. I heard the dog (Mr. Boopsey)(really) licking its lips under the table. On the opposite side of the table, Riku's meatloaf needs were being attended to by his mother.  
  
I grinned down into my plate, a wicked idea springing into my mind. Quietly, I toed my heel of out my shoe. I looked discretely around, nobody had noticed. I slipped the rest of my foot out. Slowly, with precision a drill team would be proud of, I slid my foot across the floor and up Riku's leg. He looked up at me, expression veiled. I smiled secretly at him, moving my foot further up. He looked down and concentrated on his plate.  
  
"Riku?" His head snapped up.  
  
"Tell me all about you and Sora, what suicidal adventures have you been up to lately? Still chasing each other around?" Nana peered at him through her thick glasses.  
  
"Uhhhhheh heh heh . yeah, Nana. Still having-" I slid my foot into his lap. "Having crazy adventures. " he stammered. I munched some salad thoughtfully, very interested in the conversation.  
  
"Yeah, Riku. Tell her about our raft." I slowly massaged his groin with my toes.  
  
He cleared his throat "Oh, yeah. We uh, we made a raft."  
  
"A raft! How wonderful! All by yourself?" massage massage massage.  
  
"Y-yeah. Well, Kairi helped." He shot me a discrete look that said 'I will kill you'  
  
"Kairi! Now, there's a sweet girl. How's she doing, you two still fighting over her?" His grandma peered back and fourth between us.  
  
"Heh, no, no we've gotten that, um, straightened out"  
  
Riku's father laughed abruptly. Riku shot him a panicked look. I dropped my foot out of his lap, afraid we had been found out again.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"You've-you . you've gotten it 'straitened out'. " He laughed. Everybody at the table stared at him "You've . you got .nevermind." He rushed the end of his sentence and concentrated on his salad. Nana looked at Riku's mother.  
  
"Sometimes I worry about that odd husband of yours, Dear."  
  
"Me too, mother. Me too." Riku's dad looked up, a pained look on his face.  
  
"Now, that's not really fair." I smiled. All couples should be able to get along so well.  
  
"Um, " I interjected. "Could you please tell me where the bathroom is?" I smiled politely, hopefully.  
  
"I'll show you, c'mon" Riku stood up and motioned for me to follow. I swear I saw his parents try to hide smiles behind their food. I would never live this down.  
  
I followed my silver haired bishonen down a hallway, we stopped and he pointed to a door at the end of it.  
  
"Thanks." I started past him, but was suddenly slammed into the opposite wall.  
  
"Hey! What do you-" He clamped a hand over my mouth and stared disapprovingly at me.  
  
"What did I say about teasing me like that?" I licked his palm, and he removed his hand.  
  
"I thought I could tease you, as long as I let you touch me later ... " I blinked innocently at him. He smirked back, then leaned in and kissed me. After a few moments he stepped back and smiled suggestively.  
  
"Hungry?" I licked my lips.  
  
"Very."  
  
Grinning, he pulled me into the bathroom.  
  
***  
  
"Goodness! You boys get lost or something?" Nana demanded as we slipped back into our chairs  
  
"Naw, Sora was afraid of the monsters in the hall closet, so we had to go on a monster fighting adventure." Riku said, focusing again on his plate.  
  
"Oh, alright then." Nana nodded, as if this were a normal occurrence. His father looked down from beside me and gave me a little grin. His mother was giggling from across the table. I blinked. What had I gotten myself into?  
  
"Now! Who wants Jello?" Nana asked  
  
***  
  
"Uh, gah, ah . erk! No!" Riku's father twisted violently, scowling.  
  
"Eee! No! Nononononono!" His mother shrieked into my ear. I concentrated hard, sticking my tongue out between my teeth. Riku leapt to his feet.  
  
"Yes! I say it once again; I am The Best!" His little go cart was happily spinning on screen, little digital confetti sprinkling down on it.  
  
We had hooked up the other two controllers to the Gamestation and had spent the evening having a 'family video game night'. So far Riku had won the Star Cup and the Mushroom Cup.  
  
"The /Best/?" his father challenged. "What about me?"  
  
"You haven't beaten me yet!" Riku sassed back. His father put his hand to his chin thoughtfully.  
  
"True . true . c'mon Sora, we can take him together!" He pulled me to my feet.  
  
"Huh? Oh, now come on, that's not fair" Riku pleaded, backing up as his father and I advanced on him.  
  
"Now!" His father roared, pouncing his son, pinning his arms behind his back. Riku struggled violently as his mother and I tickled his unmercifully. While he wasn't nearly as ticklish as I was, you could still get a good reaction out of him if done properly.  
  
"Nooo! Gahahahahah!" Riku kicked his legs (his father was holding him suspended a few inches above the ground anyway) tears running down his cheeks.  
  
"Ahh! It hurts it hurts! Okay! Uncle! Uncle! I give! I give!" Riku laughed, thrashing about. His father released him, all of us laughing. Riku plopped down on the floor, panting and gasping.  
  
"That . that /wasn't/ fair " he rasped.  
  
"Fair? Who said anything about fair? But know this-" his father leaned down and jabbed a finger into his son's face. "You are not invincible." Riku pouted.  
  
"Well, boys, that was wonderfully fun, but I think I'll head off to bed. Honey?" His mother motioned towards the door. "Sleep well boys. Be good." They both smiled at us. I smiled back.  
  
"We will."  
  
After his parents had gone, Riku pulled me close and ran a finger down my cheek.  
  
"What are you wearing to bed?" I looked down at my pajama pants and tee- shirt. It was the same sleepwear I'd been wearing all week.  
  
"Um .not this?" I asked. Riku grinned, pulling my shirt up over my head.  
  
"I thought, since you've finally accepted me" I blushed "that you could sleep like this" he untied my fuzzy pants and let them fall.  
  
"In my underwear? It's winter ." I pouted. I was all for nekkid sleeping, but I didn't want to freeze. He kissed my neck.  
  
"I'll keep you warm"  
  
  
  
***  
  
My chapters are getting disturbingly long; this is 11 pages long. Jesus Tap Dancing Christ. Ooo . My computer auto-capitalized 'Christ' . Funny. Now, I know I teased you all, yaoi wise, in this chapter, so for being patient, I reward you with chapter 7.5. Not posted on F-net, because I don't want them to send their Deadly F-net Ninjas after me. You don't have to read it, it has no impact on the plot at all. ( Readers say: This story has a plot? I thought it was just a story about Sora and Riku going after each other . what is this plot you speak of? )You can find it here: http://www.spicedpeaches.com/piecesVII-5.html Enjoy! 


End file.
